A/N: Good morning. This is my entry for the July Fic-a-thon over on LJ. It came about from the song of the same name by Tim McGraw. I hope you all like it.
My beta is awesome and she's all mine and nobody else can have her. That's all.
-0-
Andy Sachs stepped out of the airport terminal and looked around at the back-end-of-nowhere town she'd had to stop over in, sighing when she realised it could be hours before she got news of how long she would actually be staying. Spying a coffee shop she walked over to it, not dawdling due to the icy cold wind sending shivers down her spine and whipping her hair around her face. She shuffled through the door taking a moment to appreciate the warmth in the small and cosy café as she shook her head. Things couldn't really get much worse. Her story lead had fallen through, the plane had been delayed and then diverted and now she was stuck hours from where she wanted to be; at home in New York, in bed, feeling sorry for herself.
"Latte thanks," she said nodding to the woman behind the till. She leaned against the counter waiting for her coffee, figuring that the cafe was warm enough to hang out in before she got confirmation of her flights. That was until she turned to find a seat, nearly dropping her coffee in fright.
Sitting as regally as ever with a rather dark look on her face as she tore strips off somebody on the phone, was none other than Miranda Priestly in all her beautifully formidable form. Andy's heart sped up and she tried desperately to control her erratic breathing. She closed her eyes and counted backwards from ten, wondering why the universe saw fit to curse her with this now, when she was feeling so low. She knew she wouldn't be able to cope with Miranda, not now; not ever, if she was truly honest with herself. But as she looked back at the Editor-in-Chief, their eyes met and Andy knew she would have to bite the bullet.
"Um, hi Miranda," she said, waving awkwardly and feeling slightly unsure of the welcome she would receive.
Miranda stared in Andy's direction for a long while, before casually slipping her sunglasses down her nose and looking Andy up and down before nodding once and going back to her phone.
Andy let out a sigh of relief and stood for a moment before deciding for some reason that it would be a good time to join the editor.
"Andréa," Miranda said, the frosty tone Andy had expected curiously absent.
"How are you?" Andy asked bravely, covering up the tremor in her hands by taking off her gloves.
Miranda paused, but didn't look away from her phone and Andy decided she had already been courageous enough by asking after her well-being. So she sat in silence, not quite awkward, sipping the latte and hoping for a reprieve.
"I am stuck in this hell hole with no way to get home," Miranda said suddenly. "My contact, who cannot get me a flight has in fact, just this minute, given me some horrific news. The F.A.A. is cancelling all non-essential travel until this weather moves on."
Andy sat in shock, just looking at the woman. It was perhaps the most Miranda had ever spoken to her specifically, aside from that fateful car ride in Paris.
"Is there someone looking after the girls?" Andy blurted, biting her lip until it bled so she couldn't ask anymore questions.
"They are with their father until I return," Miranda said, pausing to take off her sunglasses. Andy noted she looked exhausted. "Thank you for asking after them."
"No problem, they're great kids once you get over their little mischievous streak," Andy shrugged, desperately searching for an opening in which to escape the thrall that she knew she was being sucked into again.
"So," Miranda said, apparently tired of the somewhat strange conversation. "Do you have somewhere to stay then?"
"I'm sorry?" Andy asked, nearly spilling her final mouthful of coffee down her chin.
"Honestly, has that little rag of a paper damaged your hearing? They have grounded everyone's flights. I booked a suite at the Hilton when I first got in, for this very reason. It will not be long before everyone receives the same news as I. So I repeat, do you have somewhere to stay?"
"Um, no?"
"Come along then Andréa."
And just like that, she was back with Miranda, but the majority of her brain couldn't bring herself to care.
-0-
"This is beautiful," Andy said quietly, perched on the edge of an extremely pricey sofa in a very expensive hotel room.
"It's not the worst place I've stayed in," Miranda sniffed. "At least it's warm. You look as if you could do with some warming up; your lips are blue."
"Oh, they do that," Andy shrugged, unwilling to discuss just how cold she really was.
"Nonsense, your teeth are chattering," Miranda said, looking closer. "Here, take off your shoes, your feet must be cold."
Andy decided right then that she must be in the twilight zone, because there, kneeling on the floor at her feet, was Miranda Priestly pulling off her scuffed boots and her socks.
"They're soaking," Miranda muttered. "I take it you only brought carry on luggage with you?"
"Um -"
"Hmm."
Miranda had disappeared before Andy knew what had hit her and then she was back, with the softest pair of woollen socks Andy had ever felt and before she knew it, there were tears running down her cheeks.
"They're just socks, Andréa."
Andy shook her head, wishing she could string two words together to tell Miranda that it was, in fact, not justsocks. She had so many things that she wished she could say but the only thing that tumbled out of her mouth was:
"For a moment Miranda, I forgot that you don't love me anymore."
She wished there was a hole in the floor that would swallow her up. She closed her eyes and smacked her head like an idiot. How? How could she have said that? What had possessed her?
It was exhaustion mainly, and an overwhelming sense of Miranda clouding her judgment.
"Andréa?"
The tone was soft, but Andy knew better. She knew what was coming. Devastation. Heartbreak. Scathing tones, clipped and quiet, explaining in great detail why Miranda would never be in love with a silly little girl like her.
"Andréa?"
She shook her head, wishing Miranda would just go.
"I'm not leaving Andréa. You're in my hotel room, remember?"
And there it was, the death knell she'd been waiting for. She opened her eyes, grabbing her bag as she stood and made her way from the room as quickly as her tear-blurred vision would let her.
"Where are you going? Don't tell me you're running again, not after what you've just said," Miranda demanded, her voice so loud against the silence of the room.
"Miranda, I can't -"
"You mean you won't. You won't give me a chance to answer your comments, just as you did in Paris."
"That's not fair Miranda, and you know it," Andy said, her exhaustion finally getting the better of her. "What you did to Nigel was terrible, but that's not why I left."
"Well?" Miranda asked, standing herself now, toe to toe with Andy, her scent overwhelming all of Andy's senses.
"Well what?"
"If it wasn't Nigel, then why did you leave without a word? Why didn't you tell me you were struggling?"
"Because you didn't care!"
Andy took a step back, horrified that she'd just shouted in Miranda's face, but also feeling marginally better for doing so. That was, until she looked into Miranda's eyes and saw the hurt radiating in them.
"You're wrong," Miranda whispered, looking terribly small as she wrapped her arms around her tiny waist. "You've been wrong about a few things Andréa, but this is by far the biggest mistake you've ever made."
"What? You never make any sense," Andy whined. "Why can't you just say whatever it is that you want to say and be done with it?"
"And why don't you?" Miranda countered.
"Because you're Miranda Priestly! Aside from the stupid rule of not asking you anything, you surely understand how terrifying you are. You can break people with just a look, with one single glance. And me? Me, you beat down, squashed under your beautiful Prada heels and left me in Paris, long before I left you."
"I would never leave you," Miranda said, slapping a hand across her mouth when she realised what she said.
"What? What!" Andy screamed, throwing her bag back onto the sofa. "I desperately wanted to comfort you that night and you knew it. You brushed me off like I was nothing. And yet I ran across Paris, in heels, to warn you about Irv. And you'd said nothing, nothing to me of them trying to take Runway from you. And then you trod over Nigel, obliterated his dreams without so much of a word to him. Your friend Miranda. What the hell was I compared to that? If you could do that to your most loyal and trusted confidant then I had no hope. And that speech in the car, are you insane? Did you think you were paying me a compliment? Seriously Miranda, 'everyone wants to be us'? Do you remember saying that to me? Everyone wants to be us."
She'd gotten her wind up now and there was no way Andy could stop, despite Miranda seemingly becoming smaller and smaller the more she shouted.
"I was in- You meant so much to me Miranda but then you went and told me you thought I was like you, as though I could ever do that to anyone. You don't even like yourself Miranda, how could saying that to someone else be construed as a compliment? Then trying to convince me that I had already done it! Emily ended up breaking her leg, so I would have been with you anyway. There was no reason for Emily not to accompany you, and yet you were the one that pitched us against each other. And God knows why Miranda, I would have done anything for you and so would Emily. I don't understand why you would do that. Why would you play people like that? I thought you were -"
Her thoughts ground to a halt as she finally took Miranda in. The woman's hair was over her face and her arms were gripping her sides tightly, as if she would break apart if she let go. She slumped down onto the sofa and Andy realised for the first time that perhaps she had gone too far.
"Miranda?"
"Don't -" Miranda said, waveringly. "Please, no more."
"Miranda."
Andy rushed to the editor's side and saw tears running down her face.
"I never meant to hurt you Andréa. I never, I couldn't tell you -"
And then they were holding each other; Miranda sobbing on her shoulder and Andy gaping unblinkingly at the wall over Miranda's head. She had no idea how long they sat there, but her shoulder was damp even through her coat and Miranda had gone very still.
"Hey," she whispered, allowing her fingers to do what they'd ached to do for so long. She brushed back the signature lock of hair from Miranda's face and smiled gently. "I'm sorry. I'm exhausted and grumpy and, no they're excuses. I have no excuse to take that out on you. I'm sorry Miranda."
"You had every right Andréa," Miranda said quietly. "I'm the one who was the perpetrator."
"But I've put it all behind me. I understood why you did it, even then, but obviously it still stings."
"I truly never meant to hurt you. I was under so much strain and in the hotel room I saw you looking at me and, and I -"
She sat up, looking for something in Andy's face. After a while, she reached forward and ran a finger down Andy's cheek.
"I saw. I saw what I meant to you and it terrified me. I am not good at being scared Andréa, nor out of my depth and I was both with you. You petrified me, with your beautiful face and infallible, unwavering trust in me. And so I pushed you away and for that, I will forever regret doing so."
"Don't be sorry," Andy whispered. "I got what I wanted, well most of what I wanted."
Miranda looked at her beseechingly until she sighed. They were apparently, truly having this conversation.
"I didn't see you. That was the worst part. I missed seeing you, hearing you," she chuckled, "smelling you even. I missed putting on your coat in the afternoons, and the way, at the end there, that our fingers would brush when I handed you coffee or when I fixed your collar. I missed the way that you'd leave me an article to read on my desk, one that you thought I'd like, and not say anything. I just missed you."
"And now?" MIranda asked, looking into Andy's eyes beseechingly.
"And now, Fate has apparently decided we need to do this."
"And what is this?" Miranda asked.
"I don't know," Andy answered, leaning in and kissing Miranda without another word.
-0-
Andy awoke to the glow of sunlight on snow, groaning at the incessant light that was exacerbating her thumping headache.
"Urgh," she groaned. She went to sit up, frowning when she realised she couldn't. Her body was heavy and she wondered briefly what she'd been drinking last night.
"Are you alright?"
Andy nearly screamed when she saw the iconic white hair, sticking up at every angle, sexy as hell, resting comfortably on her chest. She thanked the gods she was still wearing clothes. If they had been skin on skin, Andy was quite sure she would have had a heart attack.
Up until that moment Andy had never believed that age old trope from romance novels and films; the one where the previous night flashed back through one's psyche the morning after a life altering event, but she saw everything. The coffee, the shouting, the kissing; so many kisses they'd shared until they had fallen asleep in each other's arms.
"I, you're here!"
"Did you expect me to have left without a word? Leaving you to wonder whether I was alive or dead, left in an alley in the middle of an unknown city?"
Andy felt all the blood and the happiness drain out of her at the harsh words.
"Um, right," she whispered, pushing Miranda away, hastily trying to make her exit.
"No, no, don't go Ándrea, please. I'm, I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. It should have been left where it was last night. Please."
The desperation stopped Andy in her tracks and she sat, with Miranda still laying across her, until she absolutely had to move.
"Bathroom," she muttered, sliding from beneath the woman and going about her business.
She washed her hands and tried to find some semblance of normality whilst looking herself in the eye in the mirror.
"What are you doing Andy?" she shook her head. "She'll chew you up and spit you back out."
The irony was Andy had already thought that the day before, but recalling the noises Miranda made when Andy kissed her neck, sucked on her shoulder and the sigh she let out when Andy gathered her up in her arms was enough to silence the voices immediately.
"Ándrea? Are you alright darling? There's coffee?"
"She calls me darling," Andy gushed, finally allowing the smile she had been fighting to burst onto her face.
She threw open the door, almost barreling into Miranda who took a step back in shock, but Andy wasn't having any of it.
"We'll figure it out," Andy said. "We will."
The smile she got in return was magical and Andy knew that no matter what, there would never be another smile that could top it.
-0-
The day progressed slowly, tentatively as the two women struggled to find some middle ground.
"Miranda, would you like me to make you a coffee?" Andy asked quietly.
"No, I'll make it," Miranda said, getting up faster than Andy had seen her move before.
"No, Miranda, it's okay -"
"Andréa, it's fine. I will make it. You don't fetch my coffee anymore."
"No, I want to, please, I just -"
They both reached for the coffee and it was Andy that snapped first. Giggling a little, she moved it just out of reach of Miranda's hand, smiling as Miranda leaned into her. What followed was a little tussle, punctuated with Andy's laugh and Miranda's grumblings.
"Andréa, witholding my coffee is a dangerous game."
"Well, come and get it then," Andy teased, turning so her back was against the counter, pushing it as far behind her as she could.
Miranda smiled gently, took the invitation and sauntered up to Andy, leaning forward and sliding her hands along Andy's stomach. Andy tried to steady her breath as Miranda's hands slid around her ribs and along the counter until she was standing toe to toe with her, looking into her eyes.
"I always get what I want," Miranda said quietly, her breath brushing against Andy's lips.
"So take it then," Andy smiled.
As Miranda's mouth met Andy's, all the tension from the room melted away, leaving the two of them standing in each other's arms reacquainting themselves with the perfection that was each other's lips.
"I'd like to make your coffee," Andy said, stroking the backs of her fingers down Miranda's cheek.
"I haven't had a good coffee since you left," Miranda admitted, blushing as Andy smiled, completely astounded by the usually acerbic woman.
-0-
Night fell, with only the rumbling of their stomachs to remind them of the time. Miranda surprised Andy by making them a simple dinner with the barest of ingredients. They opened a few bottles from the mini bar, and aside from Miranda grumbling a little about the pairings, it was a beautifully serene dinner.
"This was lovely Miranda, you didn't have to do that," Andy sighed, sitting back and patting her belly. "We could have just ordered a burger."
Miranda chuckled, making Andy smile. She sat back and stared at Miranda, unable to take her eyes off the woman that was so enigmatic to her.
"You're staring," Miranda said quietly, a little ice creeping into her voice.
"It's good though," Andy assured her. "I was just marvelling at how amazing you are."
"Don't tease me Andréa."
"I'm not," Andy said reassuringly. "You were so hard at work, so forceful and strong and yet here, with me, you're all soft. You are treating me to an evening of being charmed by you, not Miranda Priestly, but you and I am absolutely honoured that you would open yourself up to me, especially after what I said yesterday," she blushed. "By rights, you should have thrown me out."
"There are many things I'd like to tell you Andréa, but one thing you must know is that I would like to pursue this," MIranda whispered, "if you are amenable."
Andy's hand shook as she took a drink, trying desperately to form a sentence in response to that.
"I see," Miranda said, getting up suddenly.
"No, no Miranda, stop. I -" Andy got up as well, grabbing Miranda's hand before she could escape. "Just wait, okay?"
They stood, looking at each other, one of Miranda's hands on the door, and Andy gripping her other wrist.
"You do not have to placate me Andréa, it is clear that your feelings for me are not as deep as mine are for you."
"Stop," Andy ordered, cupping Miranda's face. "You are so brave, so fearless."
"Andréa -"
"Miranda, I love you."
If her heart hadn't exploded in her chest, Andy would have giggled. Miranda's mouth dropped open and she simply stared at Andy as if she couldn't believe her.
"You, you love me?" Miranda asked after the longest ten seconds of Andy's life.
"I love you," Andy repeated, becoming increasingly comfortable with the revelation the more she said it.
"I," she shook her head, "and you call me brave," Miranda chastised her gently, bring her hand up to brush Andy's fringe away. "I have missed you so keenly Andréa, unbelievably so in the truest sense, especially to me. When I saw you that day, when you waved at me on the corner, you would not believe the turmoil you put in me."
"I had no idea," Andy said, her own hand unable to resist brushing Miranda's iconic lock from her face. "But I think, even then I knew I had feelings for you; I knew that a big part of me perhaps even loved you. I was so eager to please you from day one and then suddenly it wasn't about pleasing you any more, it was about making your life easier. It was about making you smirk behind those pursed lips, it was about making sure that you were home early enough to see the twins."
Miranda smiled, her arms coming up around Andy's neck, resting her forehead against Andy's and rubbing their noses together.
"It became you, all you, and not the job. And then you scared me so deeply in Paris that I had to go. I didn't want to go Miranda, but I had to. I had to save myself from giving you everything, only to have it all thrown away again."
"And I would have," Miranda sighed. "I would have thrown you away back then, before I realised what you were to me. Not now though," she promised. "Not ever, Andréa."
"Well then, I think now would be the time to tell you that I would really like to take you to bed and make love to you."
Andy grinned as Miranda lost her breath.
"You would?"
"I most certainly would, if you are amenable," Andy smiled, echoing Miranda's earlier words. "I don't want to rush you though, but if you feel ready -"
"I'm ready," Miranda interrupted.
Andy pushed Miranda against the closed door, kissing her desperately and running her hands over her elbows still resting on her shoulders. They travelled down the backs of her arms and onto her ribs, just holding her gently as they kissed.
"I want you," Miranda whispered, shocking Andy a little at the vocalisation.
"You have me."
They paused, mutually taking each other in their arms and simply hugging. Andy could feel the tension rolling off Miranda shoulders, and she pulled back a little.
"We don't have to do this, we can wait. Get to know each other better; socially."
"No, we do. I have to, we must Andréa, I can't lose -"
"You won't lose me over this," Andy soothed. "I will wait forever for you. If you never want to make love, I'm not going to make you Miranda. I love you, it doesn't mean I -"
Miranda placed her fingers over Andy's mouth, disrupting the babbling.
"I want nothing more than to take you to bed Andréa, but I am apprehensive."
"Oh, oh okay," Andy said, nodding. She drew Miranda with her, sitting down on the loveseat by the window. She took Miranda's hands in hers and squeezed them gently. "What can I do to help you?"
"I have never been with a woman before, and quite frankly the previous encounters I had with my husbands were," she grimaced, "lacking."
"You mean you never -"
"I did not," Miranda sniffed, looking away.
Andy didn't think. She took Miranda into her arms and held her, rocking back and forth trying to sooth what those that came before had hurt.
"Have you ever at all?" Andy asked haltingly.
She felt Miranda sigh into her neck and she couldn't believe they were having this conversation. Who would have thought Miranda Priestly had never had an orgasm, at least at someone else's hands.
"God," she breathed. "I did once. I -" She moved away, leaving Andy watching her from across the room. "You'll think me silly."
"No, Miranda. I could never," Andy reassured her. "I guess, if we are going to do this, we need to be comfortable sharing difficult parts of our past with each other."
"The Chanel boots," Miranda whispered.
It took Andy a moment before she could comprehend what Miranda had just said.
"You mean, when I -"
"Yes," Miranda said. "It was," she looked over at Andy with fire in her eyes, "illuminating. I had no idea at the time what it meant, but I woke up after having a particularly," she sniffed, "vivid dream and then -"
Miranda made a vague hand gesture and Andy felt herself falling in love all over again. She crossed the room and wrapped her arms around Miranda's middle, tucking her chin on the woman's shoulder.
"You are amazing Miranda Priestly," she breathed. "You manage to make me love you even more while telling me about your so-called awkwardness. You don't have an awkward bone in your body, do you?"
The slight teasing tone did the trick and Miranda let her head fall back against Andy's shoulder, her height being so that her lips were at just the right level to press a kiss to her neck.
"If it's any consolation, I've never been with a woman either, but I know I want to try and please you. And we can learn together what we both like."
Saying this, Andy slid her arms from Miranda's stomach up to her breasts. She was acting braver than she felt, but as soon as her hands cupped the perfect softness she was lost. She knew she would forever be a slave to pleasing this woman and she found that she totally didn't have a problem with that.
"Andréa."
"Is this okay?" Andy muttered against her temple.
"Yesss," she hissed.
Andy smoothed her hands, gently applying pressure and listening to the cadence of Miranda's breathing. Before long, she could tell exactly what Miranda liked best and proceeded to do her level best at giving it to her. Staying in the same position pressed up against Miranda's back, she gently eased the buttons of Miranda's shirt and let her hands slip inside. The skin of Miranda's belly was by far the softest thing Andy had ever felt. She groaned into her lover's hair as she slowly stroked the skin that was dancing beneath her hand.
"Andréa, I don't - What are you doing to me?"
"Loving you, Miranda," Andy said reverently, finally turning the woman in her arms. "Just loving you."
They walked across Miranda's room, the room they had slept in the night before and Andy sat on the bed. She beckoned Miranda forward and the woman obliged, looking awkward.
"I've never seen you like this," she whispered. "I'm not sure how I feel about it; that those men didn't appreciate you, love you enough to explore this side of you. On the one hand," she leaned forward, pressing a kiss to Miranda's stomach, grinning as the skin jumped and twitched under her lips, "I'm angry that they would do that, not take the time with you. But on the other hand, I feel so incredibly lucky that I am the one who gets to first."
The blouse slid of Miranda's creamy shoulders making Andy stand before her, simply looking.
"I know I'm not young Andréa," Miranda started, only to be hushed by Andy gently.
"None of that," she whispered. "You are beautiful."
Andy brought Miranda closer, treating her as if she was the most precious item she'd ever beheld, thinking amusedly that she actually was. She lay her down and threw off her own clothes, covering Miranda with her body as soon as she was bare, gasping as their bodies pressed together for the first time.
"Andréa!" Miranda groaned, throwing her head back.
"I have you," Andy grinned, reaching for the top of Miranda's head, with plans to slowly move the whole way down her body.
She kissed Miranda's forehead, then her cheeks, her eyelids and her nose, giggling when it crumpled. She let the weight of her body press Miranda into the bed and hissed into Miranda's ear as she felt the woman's legs open, welcoming her into her body and allowing her to continue concentrating on making Miranda feel like the amazing woman she was. She sucked gently on an earlobe, tugging on the earing with her tongue before moving down her neck. She bit down on the juncture of her neck and shoulder and found herself gripping the comforter as Miranda nearly bucked her off.
"You like that?" Andy asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the mood, but wanting Miranda to be more vocal.
"I, yes."
She bit down again, against Miranda's collarbone and felt Miranda's nails scraping across the middle of her back. She straddled the woman's stomach, rocking gently against her skin, making sure she knew how much she was enjoying it as well. She cupped two perfect breasts, having more than enough to grasp. Miranda bowed, finally finding her voice as she groaned. Loudly.
"Let me hear you Miranda," Andy urged. "I want to hear what I'm doing to you."
It was as if someone had turned up the volume; suddenly Miranda's guttural voice was filling her ears as she was filling her mouth with various parts of her anatomy. She finally came face to face with the evidence of Miranda's arousal and she rested her head on Miranda's thigh, pressing a gentle kiss against the damp skin. She couldn't believe what was happening, what she was doing and she couldn't help the grin she was sporting as she rubbed gently at the skin of Miranda's stomach, needing the soft reassurance for both herself and the woman beneath her.
"This okay?" she asked, peering up between her breasts.
"Yeah," Miranda groaned.
Andy pressed a kiss against the soaked center and let herself sink into her own arousal. She licked gently, lapping at the wellspring of love that she quickly found she never wanted to be without.
"Tell me," she said. "Guide me, Miranda."
"Down," Miranda moaned, her hands finding Andy's hair, fingers sliding through the strands and gripping tightly. "Yes, there."
Andy did as she was told, letting her tongue gently press against the skin beneath her mouth.
"And-ee!" Miranda jolted once, her back lifting from the bed and taking Andy with her so fast it took her a moment to realise what was happening.
"Easy love," she whispered, slipping her fingers into Miranda's channel, making the woman squeal as she dropped back to the bed, her hips jerking as Andy stroked inside with purpose.
"Andréa!"
Miranda exploded again, her hands yanking on Andy's hair and her body undulating against Andy's mouth and fingers. She was whispering something that Andy couldn't hear on account of her heartbeat thumping in her ears and she felt her own body spasm in sympathy. Wiping her mouth on the bedsheets, she crawled up to Miranda's side, nuzzling into her neck as she held the woman tightly against her, putting aside her own arousal in favour of caring for the woman that held her heart so completely.
"I had no idea," Miranda whispered after quite a while.
"I've never felt anything like this," Andy whispered, smiling against the flushed skin. "It was never like this with anyone else."
"You mean, you -"
"You were kinda hot," Andy chuckled, soothing Miranda's blush with a kiss.
She expected it to be short, but Miranda caught the taste of herself on Andy's lips and suddenly Andy was being pressed back onto the bed with a purpose.
"Your turn," Miranda whispered, just before Andy's brain stopped thinking.
-0-
The ringing cell phone woke Andy later. She found herself nestled into a body, her front pressed against their back and it took a minute to sink in that she had a naked Miranda Priestly in bed with her.
"Yes?"
She smiled against Miranda's shoulder, pressing a kiss to it and pulling her back into her body. The room was cool but she was burning for Miranda once more.
"And you can get me on that flight? Yes. Two seats."
Andy couldn't help her wandering hands, even as they slid up Miranda's sides and onto her breasts.
"No, I -" Miranda paused as Andy started playing with her nipples. Instead of saying anything, she rolled back into Andy's body and the arm not holding the phone to her ear reached up behind her to pull Andy closer. "Yes, I'm still here!" she snapped. "Get us on that flight!"
The cell phone beeped off and Andy was overwhelmed by the level of intensity from Miranda.
"You said earlier that you had never felt this way before Andréa. I too have never felt this burning need to be with someone, not before you."
"I'm right here," Andy grinned, sliding her leg seductively between Miranda's thighs. It would not be their second time, nor their third; in fact somewhere along the way Andy had stopped counting. "We have a flight?"
"Yes, the first of the day tomorrow. Which means we should sleep so we will be up."
"Whatever," Andy grinned, sliding her tongue over Miranda's neck.
"Wait, Andréa! Wait."
Andy pulled away, worried that she had crossed a boundary, but instead saw Miranda reaching once again for her phone, shaking her head at herself for not hearing it ring.
"Bobbseys!" Miranda said, smiling so tenderly that Andy lost all thoughts of round whatever-number-they-were-on and pulled Miranda back into her arms. Her touch now focussed on soothing the editor as she spoke to her daughters.
"And you are having fun?" Andy grinned at the cacophony of voices coming from the other end of the phone. "I'm not alone darlings, you remember Andréa?" There was a short pause and Andy leaned forward, her lips touching Miranda's ear.
"Harry Potter," she said, smirking at the blush rising on Miranda's neck as she relayed the information to the twin terrors.
"Yes, that Andréa," Miranda chuckled. "I'm glad you liked her. I met up with her, so we have been," she paused and glanced back at Andy, who stared at her defiantly. "We have been spending some time together. If you are both in agreement, I would like to invite her over for Christmas. Is that okay with both of you?"
Andy's head was spinning so much, she missed the end of the conversation. She rested her head on Miranda's back, feeling the vibration of her talking, but not listening as she contemplated that this was in fact real. They were actually doing this.
"I sincerely hope it is acceptable to you to spend Christmas with us at the townhouse," Miranda whispered. "I would very much like for you to spend time with us, together. To try and ascertain the girls' level of comfort around you and address it accordingly."
"You make it sound like a business deal Miranda," Andy said gently. "Kids are fundamentally the same. If they don't like me for my winning smile and charming personality, I'll fall back on the age old method that never fails."
"Such as?" Miranda asked, turning her head.
"Bribery," Andy grinned, kissing Miranda gently. "Though you kind of ruined that for me by making me get the Harry Potter manuscript for them. I'm not sure I can top that."
"You will not need bribery Andréa," Miranda assured her, rolling over. "You will charm them as simply as you did me, with your kind heart and genuine smile. They will love you, perhaps more so than they love me."
"Don't be silly," Andy said, pulling Miranda in closer. "Your daughters love you so much; they crave your attention. I'm convinced the stunt that sent me upstairs was simply to make sure you and Steven weren't fighting. They were protecting you."
Miranda sighed and snuggled back down under the covers.
"You are a marvel Andréa Sachs." Miranda paused in her shuffling, suddenly looking serious. "Darling?" she said, cupping Andy's cheeks. "Please don't ever doubt or forget that I love you, with all my heart."
"Me too," Andy said, kissing her sweetly in reply. "I love you, always."
Their foreheads came together softly and Miranda sighed, allowing Andy to close her eyes as they both fell into sleep. Tomorrow would bring change in both their lives, but Andy was ready for change. She was ready to spend whatever time she had with Miranda, and by extension her girls. Hopefully, it would be forever.